Committed to ensure level playing field to all contestants: CEO

Jammu, Aug 21: The J&K Election Department has removed more than 28,000 defacements across Jammu and Kashmir within 72 hours after the announcement of the J&K Assembly Election 2024.

With the announcement of the assembly election in J&K on August 16, 2024, by the Election Commission of India (ECI), the commission issued directions for the effective enforcement of provisions of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in J&K.

Taking the ECI directives regarding the implementation of MCC after the announcement of elections into consideration, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) J&K, P K Pole directed the enforcement wing of the department to remove all the wall-writing, posters, banners, or defacement in any other form on the government properties and others in no time.

“Acting swiftly, the enforcement wing removed 28,636 defacements across J&K within 72 hours from the announcement of the election,” a statement from the CEO’s office said.

As many as 1837 wall-writing, 9276 posters, 5661 banners, and 11,862 other defacements from government, public, and private properties were removed by flying squads and MCC teams in a mission mode in the last 72 hours across the 20 districts of J&K.

The action was aimed at ensuring that no political advertisement at the cost of public exchequer be displayed prominently in government, public, and private properties during the MCC-restricted period.

“The J&K Election Department is committed to working in tandem with all stakeholders to ensure a level-playing field for all contestants during the MCC-restricted period,” the CEO said.